British to Take Up Persecution of Christians, Sikhs in India

The discrimination faced by Christians and Sikhs in India was addressed in a debate in the House of Commons on 'freedom of religion or belief' last week in London.

Highlighting number of incidents which had made India climb to the position of 'the 11th most dangerous country for Christians', Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Martin Docherty-Hughes appealed to the British government to raise concerns on the treatment of Christians in India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April.

"Well-known people... continue to call publicly for the country to be free of Christians by 2021. So far, there have been 23,000 incidents of physical and mental abuse against Christians of all denominations, and 6,35,000 Christians have reportedly been detained without trial or unfairly arrested..." said Docherty-Hughes, according to Hindu.

He also referred to the situation of Sikhs in the country.

"The number of Sikhs detained for very long periods by state authorities continues to rise across all the States that make up the Indian nation... That is a matter not only for those who practise the Sikh faith in India, but for every U.K. citizen — including many constituents of Members here — who wishes to travel to the Punjab to visit holy sites and/or their families," he said.

He called on the government to raise questions on both issues during CHOGM.